Investment funds

Bank of America Corp. expects “significant” growth in 401(k) assets this year, but analysts are skeptical about where and how the banking company can expect to generate new business.

Total assets in the U.S. exchange-traded funds fell 5.8%, or $45 billion in January from a month earlier, according to monthly data from State Street Corp.

Affiliated Managers Group has reached an agreement with Russell Investments to acquire Russell subsidiary Pantheon Ventures for $775 million, with the potential for additional payments over the next five years, contingent on Pantheon’s growth.

The financial crisis has made a permanent impression on American consumers, who are likely to save 6% or more of their income over the next decade, translating to as much as $800 billion stashed away each year, according to a new study by Allianz Group.

Mutual fund investors in a class-action lawsuit against five mutual fund companies that permitted market timing said they will appeal their case, in which they seek $500 million to $600 million additional compensation above the $205 million restitution they got in settlements with the Ontario Securities Commission.

ETF Securities has registered another precious metals exchange-traded fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the ETFS Precious Metals Basket Trust.

Morningstar has acquired Footnoted.org, the terms of the deal undisclosed.

Fee-based financial advisers are grappling with the fallout from the crash of 2008 and see tactical asset management as the way to navigate the current market, according to a survey of 750 advisers by Jefferson National.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) rose in January by one percent to 93.2, the fifth consecutive month it has risen. However, it is down 0.7% from a year ago.

Many U.S. employers are increasingly losing confidence in their workers’ ability to save for retirement and, as a result, plan to step up efforts to help workers maximize 401(k) savings, starting by reinstating the match, Hewitt Associates found. In fact, 80% of companies that suspended or reduced their company match are planning to restore it this year.

BNY Mellon is hosting a web seminar for senior-level mutual fund executives on Wednesday at 1 p.m. on the impact of the new money fund rule changes from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Reflecting their deep turmoil during the past two years, the banking and insurance industries rank as the least trusted in the U.S., with banks recording the only slide in faith the past year, according to the inaugural 2010 Edelman Financial Services U.S. Trust Barometer.

OppenheimerFunds Chairman John V. Murphy has joined Korn/Ferry as managing director for the asset and wealth management sector of the global financial market.

The actively managed exchange-traded funds sector is increasingly going mainstream, and Grail Advisors is riding right along with it. Grail is aggressively expanding its product lineup, introducing two fixed-income funds that brings to seven its stable of actively managed exchange-traded funds.

An industry group developing best practices for 403(b) retirement plans is coming closer to streamlining these plans to make them even more similar to 401(k) plans, but first they will have to get everyone to agree to speak the same language.

Defined Benefit Plans Beat 401(k)s By More Than 1%

The actively managed exchange-traded funds sector is increasingly going mainstream, and Grail Advisors is riding right along with it. Grail is aggressively expanding its product lineup, introducing two fixed-income funds that brings to seven its stable of actively managed exchange-traded funds.

Investors are about to test drive 401(k) plans with a 21st Century whole new look and feel.

Great West Retirement Services has introduced a new set of guaranteed income investment options, SecureFoundation. The products protect participants’ retirement income when the market drops, gives them some of the upside when the market rises, and guarantees retirement income for life.

With consumers pessimistic about the current state of the economy and the future, U.S. consumer confidence fell 32.4% in February from a month earlier, according to the RBC Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household Index.